This invention relates to a dual purpose trailer towing attachment.
It is known to adapt a motor vehicle such as an automobile for towing by fitting a rear towing attachment for releasably attaching the tow-bar of a trailer such as a boat trailer, horse box, caravan or other vehicle. There are two types of towing attachment in common use: one features a pair of rearwardly projecting lugs, positioned one above the other with aligned holes therein in which a pin can be engaged. When towing with this type of attachment a towing eye on a trailer tow-bar is located between the lugs and the pin passed through holes in the lugs and through the eye and then locked in position. Another common type of towing attachment consists of a bracket surmounted by an upstanding ball upon which a socket type tow-bar fitting is seated and locked to provide a swivel towing attachment.
To improve the versatility of a towing vehicle it is clearly desirable to provide a dual purpose towing attachment which can be used with trailer draw-bars of the kind fitted either with eye fittings or socket fittings. One known type of dual purpose towing attachment has a pair of rearwardly projecting apertured lugs for receiving a pin engageable with an eye type fitting, one of these lugs being surmounted by a spherical boss for engagement by a socket type fitting Such a known attachment is, however, disadvantageous in practice since the rearward extension of the apertured lugs beyond the spherical boss can interfere with the movement of a tow-bar in the pitching plane relative to the towing attachment when towing on rough terrain.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved dual purpose trailer towing attachment of compact size.